At least one U.S. congressman is also in mourning for Chavez. New York Rep. Jose Serrano praised the anti-U.S. socialist leader — the same one who was an eHarmony.com match with Iran on 28 of the 29 dimensions of compatibility (Ahmadinejad doesn’t like parrots):

Hugo Chavez was a leader that understood the needs of the poor. He was committed to empowering the powerless.R.I.P. Mr. President.

Human Rights Watch’s last major report on Venezuela, released in September 2008, documented how democratic institutions and human rights guarantees had suffered during the first decade of Chávez’s presidency. Since then, the human rights situation in the country has become even more precarious.

While many Venezuelans continue to criticize the government, the prospect of facing reprisals – in the form of arbitrary or abusive state action – has undercut the ability of judges to adjudicate politically sensitive cases, and forced journalists and rights defenders to weigh the consequences of disseminating information and opinions critical of the government.

And what’s a “nobody should have too much money” socialist leader without a big dose of hypocrisy? Hugo Chavez once said “being rich is bad, it’s inhuman.” He also claimed “capitalism leads us straight to hell.” The kicker: Chavez was worth anywhere between one and two billion dollars. Wow — I can’t help but wonder how much money he could have accumulated if he had been a capitalist.